Management had a simple message in the text it sent to frame the morning Management had a simple message in the text it sent to frame the morning production meeting. We assume they intended us to read it before the meeting developed the Daily product, and the contribution to the book they are supposed to be writing about what we are told are historic times, quite a big larger than some of the other significant recent ones like The Fall of Rome.

You may have heard there is a 100-day campaign in progress through Election Day, and compressed within it is a 45-day campaign until early voting begins and the chicanery can commence in earnest after eight years of tumult. There is all sorts of complex messaging in progress about equally complex issues involving the fate of civilization. It is characterized so far with discussions involving twerking pop-stars and golf handicaps. There may be more happening with that.
Another face had some input this morning. Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has reportedly ordered a direct strike on Israel following the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Wednesday.

It is difficult to imagine what a “dramatic direct strike” might consist of, since they have previously fired 3,000 rockets in an extended mass barrage, so we await with interest to see a focused event even more dramatic. It might be so dramatic as to provoke even more intense drama, but that seems to be how things go on the highway on which we are currently rolling together.

Anyway, in view of the faces in today’s messages, the Chairman directed Legal and Marketing to at least dispatch interns to monitor what the creative staff, the independent contractors who attend the morning sessions mostly for the free coffee and hope for complementary donuts, and remind them to attempt some brevity and add some mirth to the account.

That starts with some of the faces in the messaging in the top row. We discussed some of the drama in the messaging of yore. Or yesterday, depending on perspective. The Israelis had made a dramatic response to an earlier dramatic message sent by rocket by a proxy for someone else who had committed a dramatic act on behalf of some irate people in a proud ancient ethno-centric nation to their north.

One of the figures in that row has sworn something dramatic in response to the response, and since this now involves the routine exchange of rockets and aerial bombs, this could be something quite spectacular. We would stay on the edge of our lawn chairs in anticipation of what may occur, but there was a reasonable suggestion that the basement bar might be a better place for the wait.

There was good news in the sea of messaged faces, of course. The Olympics and Congressional hearings have provided some faces demonstrating there is excellence and triumph in the faces that demonstrate some of the nuance of intersectionality.

We have previously observed the former Director the United States Secret Service, the one who was forced to resign over a discussion of not knowing who or why a deranged lone gunman was allowed to take eight shots at a former president, and maybe the next one, from a place her agents had been observing for an hour or two before the event.

We had a picture of her when she testified and it was spectacular, so we were advised by Legal not to run it again to prevent any inadvertent micro-aggressions. The Acting Director who is sitting in the chair until some other story is fabricated is an example of ad hoc messaging.

If it is possible to find a more certifiable white guy’s image than that of Ronald Rowe we are hard pressed to imagine what it might be, except possibly our Marine Drill Instructor in those twelve weeks of agony under the blazing Pensacola sun nearly a half century ago. They even permitted him to look like an angry white guy, the kind now routinely vilified as they search for someone plausible to replace him.

That could include people like White House Executive Chef Cris Comerford. She has prepared meals for the last five Chief Executives with talent and flair. Part of her success may be attributed to avoiding paddle-boarding with those she served or being under direct protection of the Secret Service.

A couple Americans who had been held in confinement in Russia were released just hours ago. Their detention was a big deal, and had been a signal of some sort from Moscow to Washington. Their release is another one. It is in exchange for something so far unknown, arranged by people we have never heard of, all paid for by U.S. taxpayer dollars we would be happy to provide, if asked, though of course it was already collected and lavishly spent.

On the upside, there was messaging from the Olympics. Inspirational faces that participated in the actual athletic events rather than the grand and bizarre spectacle that opened the Games with painted nudes, beheaded queens and flamboyant cross-dressing internationalists.

So, this morning opens with the preliminary trumpets announcing a new episode in an old drama is about to occur. It is likely to be colorful, and there doubtless be some impressive images and face that accompany it. The Campaign here, with twerking show-people introducing candidates for what was the most important job on earth.
The discussion touched on all that stuff, and we were pleased that Legal and Marketing were there to ensure the transition from Chock Full O’Nuts to those Kuerig pod-thingies went without major issue.

There is apparently other stuff to worry about, which includes a dramatic new alignment of old allies sworn against us, the collision of two others in a dispute more than two thousand years old, and whether we can actually afford a new coffee machine that can handle the pods in which the grounds now arrive.

We will keep you informed on that, at least, as we move forward. Unified, and hopefully, Amused. The alternative isn’t, you know?

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra

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